LAGRANGE – They’re hoping it’s a happy homecoming.

The Lafayette Christian School Cougars, who were off last week, will look to even their record at 2-2 with a win over CrossPointe Christian today.

It will be the first homecoming game played in Lafayette Christian’s new on-campus stadium.

In the first game in the stadium, Lafayette Christian lost to Solid Rock 18-6.

Lafayette Christian then went on the road and lost to Crisp Academy 42-33 before breaking through for a 40-16 road win over Central-Christian in a rematch of last year’s GICAA state-championship game.

CrossPointe, which is located in Coweta County, is a familiar foe for Lafayette Christian.

“It’s a long time-rival,” Lafayette Christian head coach Nate Shaw said. “We’ve played each year since the program’s existed. So, this will be the ninth meeting. We’ve had the edge the last couple of years. It wasn’t two years ago that we broke through on them.”

After the 0-2 start, Lafayette Christian was in desperate need of a win, and it made it happen with an impressive performance at Central-Christian.

The Cougars got a fumble return for a touchdown by Gary Johnson, a kickoff return for a score by John Parham, Nick Spitler had three combined touchdowns (two rushing, and one receiving), and Jess Hill had a scoring run.

Also, quarterback Landon Whitley continued to do a stellar job running the offense.

Spitler has developed into a big-time play-maker for the Cougars, and Shaw said he was aided by some stellar blocking against Central-Christian.

“We finally tuned up our blocking, an we were able to run the ball against a pretty good defensive front,” Shaw said.

Shaw said a focus in the early going has been on getting a lot of players involved on offense.

“We spread the ball out,” Shaw said. “We have pretty good distribution. It’s one of those deals that it’s helped us. It’s helped us be in games.”

Lafayette Christian’s defense, meanwhile, was led against Central-Christian by Avery Staples, who had 18 tackles, and freshman safety Nathan Fain had two interceptions.

Lafayette Christian has had two weeks to prepare for tonight’s game, and Shaw said “we’re feeling pretty good. We’re ready.”

As for the homecoming aspect of the game, Shaw said his message to the players is to not let the distractions impact their performance tonight.

“Just play the game,” Shaw said. “Your only job is to play. Don’t get excited about homecoming. We would really just to treat it like another game. We’re like that now. Homecoming doesn’t mean any more than any other game.”

Reach Kevin Eckleberry at (706) 884-7311 or on Twitter @lagrangesports